NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Freshman Mikayla Blakes earned an additional pair of All-American honors on Wednesday, as the guard was named to the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) All-America second team and the Associated Press (AP) All-America third team.
It is the fourth and fifth All-America team that Blakes has been selected to this season. Earlier this week, she was named a second-team All-American by The Sporting News and ESPN, while The Athletic selected her to its All-America second team on March 3.
Blakes becomes the first Vanderbilt women’s basketball player since Chantelle Anderson in 2002-03 to be named either a first-, second-, or third-team All-American by the AP and WBCA.
The Somerset, New Jersey, native is the first Commodore to earn an All-American distinction from the AP since Jence Rhoads’ honorable mention selection in 2010-11. She is also the first Dore since Christina Wirth’s honorable mention nod in 2008-09 to earn All-America honors from the WBCA.
Additionally, the freshman is the first Commodore to earn an All-American distinction in 14 seasons, while she becomes the 19th Commodore to be named an All-American by a major women’s basketball publication in school history.
The guard is the first Vanderbilt player since Rhoads in 2010-11 to earn an All-American recognition from any publication. Blakes is the third Vanderbilt freshman to earn All-America status in program history, joining Barbara Brackman and Harriet Brumfield, who were named to the Women’s Basketball News Service All-America first team in 1981-82.
The Somerset, New Jersey, native has taken the nation by storm in her freshman season. She was named the 2024-25 SEC Freshman of the Year by the SEC coaches and was selected as the SEC Newcomer of the Year by USA Today. In addition, Blakes was named All-SEC first team by both the coaches and USA Today.
Blakes’ 23.2 points per game average is the sixth-best scoring average in NCAA Division I this season, while it leads all freshmen nationally. The guard ranks in the top 20 nationally in six categories and is the only freshman placed inside the top 50 nationally in scoring (7th; 23.2), free throws made (9th; 182), steals (38th; 75) and 3-pointers made (48th; 75).
Her 26.9 points per game average in SEC play led the league, as she scored 30 or more points in five SEC contests. Overall, Blakes has registered 20-plus points in 18 games this season and has collected five-plus assists in eight contests.
Blakes rewrote the NCAA, SEC and Vanderbilt record books multiple times this season. Her 55-point performance at Auburn on Feb. 16 set the NCAA freshman single-game and SEC single-game scoring records. She previously set the SEC single-game and NCAA true freshman scoring records on Jan. 30 with a 53-point effort at Florida. Blakes also set the Vanderbilt single-game scoring record on three separate occasions this season.
The guard has set the Vanderbilt freshman record for most points scored in a season with 743 points through 32 regular season games. Blakes’ 743 points scored are the third-most by a Commodore in a single season in program history. The 743 points are the most scored by a Vanderbilt women’s basketball player since 2001-02 when Chantelle Anderson registered 765 points.
The Vanderbilt women’s basketball team opens the 2025 NCAA Tournament this Friday in Durham, North Carolina, where the No. 7-seeded Commodores will take on No. 10-seed Oregon. Tipoff from Cameron Indoor Stadium is set for 4:30 p.m. CT and will air live on ESPNews.
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